Capers given six players through draft

Packers general manager Ted Thompson can talk all day long about how he let the draft board dictate his choices in the 2012 draft, but let the record show he selected six straight defensive players just four months after his team finished 32nd in the NFL in defense. »Read Full Article

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I'm as happy as a pig in whatever pigs are happiest in! We got every deficiency covered. Not to say they'll all pan out but what a draft. I have got to laugh about the perception that TT is a pure BAP drafter. More like a BAPTIAGDTWCTUT( best available player that is a good deal that we can trade up to)

This draft has shown me that the Packers are going to try and do it with multiple defensive sets that will involve way more then just the 11 starters.

Basically we've seen how the Packers and a few other teams already have that on offense. Multiple skilled position players they can rotate and use in a variety of formations to pass and score the ball at an astounding rate.

If you are a pretty consistent team year in year out making the playoffs, it's hard to get enough high draft picks that would bring you 2-3 passs rushing studs. So the answer is to build strength in numbers with some pretty good athletes on defense who can rotate and get the job done as a group.

Draft evaluation or grading a player by his potential to be a star is fine. But in the end it's about the group you build. Having good 3rd down rushers and guys who can play nickel corner really isn't less important then if a guy grades out to be a star. That's why to me draft grading has really become quite useless. Dallas per example needed to trade up to get their guy at #6. However the 2 secondary guys we drafted could mean just as much to us regardless if they don't grade as high or don't play every down. The way teams pass the ball means you need to have many players on defense who can play. Not just the starting 11. Escpecially when you're not drafting high in Round 1.

The guy from Iowa is another example. OK maybe he's small and can't be counted on to be effective in every situation. Worthy also has a reputation for taking plays off. But together they might click. Detroit got a high grade when Farley slipped to them last year. But in the end our lower graded players could bring more to us then he does to Detroit. Which is the main point I'm trying to make.

Strength in numbers on defense coming into play to stop strength in numbers on offense is what I see happening.

You really need D lineman to rotate, 6 is ideal so they don't get as tired like GB's line did last year. Big 300 lb linemen get tired faster than 200lb CB'sMike McCarthy on GB's defense;• He said this will allow him to play D this year with more versatility with personnel groups. "It will give us more versatility in terms of how we play defense in terms of the different defensive personnel groups. Playing maybe more people than in the past. The fact that we did score so many points quite often put stresses on our defense that we had not had before so that's something that we spent a lot of time looking as a coaching staff and feeling we could do a better job of being more creative. And utilizing our personnel in the sub packages. The ability to get more athletic and the ability to have the pass rush from inside and outside was a focus and I think that was reflected in the people we acquired in in free agency and the draft.".The last paragraph is what a lot of people aren't getting it isn't and cut and dried in a nut shell type of thing that happened last year. remember Neal and Collins were hurt.Now they are telling rookies you belong to the worst D in the NFL. I think that is a really rude thing to do to a kid personally.

A nice draft on paper, but they are rookies and it was the worst defense ever so let's wait and see. Any improvement will help the team. and it would be nice to find a gem like Matthews who was an immediate impact. Offense, which isn't better may have O-line issues. We'll see, but seems they should at least somewhat better, so is everyone.

The structure of the NFL demands that rookies don't have the luxury of being developed anymore. None of the front 7 jobs require years of study. But remember, it's much more then "paper". Watch these guys on film. There's some serious talent that was missing last year.

I am optimistic about the first two, but I feel like the 3rd pick (Hayward) is going to be a GREAT contributor for MANY years. The guy is really smart, all football, and knows the game. He is also a hard hitter and physically talented. OK, he is more 4.5 than 4.3, but Sir Charles was never a speedster either, and he certainly has been getting the job done for a long time.

If Perry turns into anything even close to what Mathews has been, then our whole outlook on life is going to be a lot rosier.

It would have been so much easier to have kept Jenkins last year (his stock was declining by the time pHilly got him) and at least at a chance at a repeat. Anyway, at least TT appears to have finally awakened with 6 straight D choices. He now realizes that it doesn't matter if you have the numero uno O, if your D is dragging at the back at No. 32. Doesn't matter how many points you score if your D can't stop the opponents' O.

The heavy on D picks were also needed after seeing the level of play from Woodson, Shields, and Tramon Williams go down last year. I still can't wipe out the image of that end of half 'Hail Mary' TD from Manning as Woodson tried to make the play. Sickening! Never ever want to see that again!

Bamacheese: I totally agree. It all starts up front, on both sides of the ball. But if we can't put any pressure on the QB, the secondary is going to get shredded. Then again, if no one tackles, then it's all going to fall apart anyway.

The absolutely funniest thing about all the whinning you folks did about how terrible the defense was last year was this one simple thing - IT WASN'T THE DEFENSE THAT COST THE PACKERS THE GIANTS GAME - It was an offense that played terrible. The slept walked threw the playoff game. They dropped 8 passes. Rodgers missed at least 1 wideopen reciever to start the game for a TD and the offense turned the ball over 4 times. Yes I know the Packers D was not good at all, but in the end it was the offense that let them down, not the defense. With 9 minutes to go in the game it was an 7 point game. Just how is that the defense losing the game for you?

@golson2: I agree with you this is a great draft, but cannot agree with you that the offense truly lost that last playoff game against the Giants. Granted the offense did not play well and you make a good point about all those dropped passes and turnovers. Still they scored 20 points. Nothing to brag about but not godawful in Lambeau Field in the middle of January. But our porous defense gave up 37 points to a good, but not great offense. At the end of the day we have to have a balanced team to win a Super Bowl. We can't be good on only one side of the ball, and, while the offense thrived, the defense let us down all season long. It was only a matter of time before some team made us pay for it.

1) The team that has won the turnover margin in the playoffs has won 9 of the last 12 Super Bowls. The other 3 were won by the team that was #2 in turnover margin. Care to take a guess what 4 turnovers by your offense is going to do to your chances?

2) The refusal of people to get that the overall lack of success of the Packers come playoff time the last 10-11 years rests precisely the offense deciding single elimination is the best time to start pushing the turnover envelope. Over the last decade the Packers have been one of the best teams in the NFL in turnover margin in the regular season, they pushed the envelope somewhat against playoff caliber teams played in the regular season but could absorb it, and then they'd add 2 whole turnovers extra come the playoffs and washout in earlier rounds against inferior teams. And then people point at the defense or the running game or the Gatorade was the wrong flavor. Anything but noticing the Packers were 2nd (out of 32ish) in turnover margin in the regular season over the last 11-12 years but 29th in per-game turnover margin in the playoffs (out of 31 teams that made at least once). When your offense decides 4,5,6,7 turnovers is o.k. you're not going to do well.

3) In 2011, the D gave up 411 ypg. Against playoff caliber teams (6) the D gave up 423 ypg. Against the Giants the Packers D gave up 420 yds. The REAL difference maker? The Packers O gave up .9 turnovers per game against all teams, averaged exactly 1 t.o.p.g. against the 6 playoff caliber teams, but turning the ball over 4 times is just supposed to cancel itself out I guess. The Packers ended up with a -3 turnover margin, the worst ever under TT/MM/AR, stemming from 4 offensive turnovers, something they've done only two other times the last 4 years. And yet people insist on resting the blame on the wrong attribute. Numbers are your friend, and when you can analyze them you find where the problems truly lie.

So when the D only got one takeaway, I guess their failure was not having the smarts to get 4 more takeaways to assure a more than likely victory. In other words, if the O was going to turn the ball over 4 times, the Packers D not only to play decent, they'd have to have an very tippy top performance to get a win. So, even IF the Packers D played GOOD or even VERY GOOD, it probably wouldn't have been enough.

Hey guys, enough with Cullen Jenkins already! I miss him too but I also miss Ray Nitschke and Reggie White, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. So we need to move on, and I think TT did a magnificent job of filling in gaps with young guys who can rush the passer, stop the run, and for Heaven's sake, tackle! I'm really excited about the upcoming season. My only real concern is making sure TT gets these guys in camp on time, sign them and get them ready to play. If he does, sky's the limit!

The Giants game is over and tiring to keep going over and over, but the bottom line is, with 9 minutes to go it was a 7 point game. The Packers D held the Giants after a stupid on-side kick, a Kuhn fumble and a bunch of other mistakes. By the 4th qtr it was done. Had the offense not make so many stupid mistakes that game would have been completely different. To blame the defense on that lose is totally and completely wrong. The Giants got very lucky to play the Packers on an off day, it is as simple as that. A Hail Mary, 8 dropped passes, 4 Packer turnovers. Yeah it was all the defense.

No question, the Packers made a huge mistake with Jenkins. You can add to that Jolly who was never replaced. Watching a talent-less defensive line was frustrating and crippling to the defense. All the eggs were in the Neal basket. How dumb was that? The error was recognized. Without inside pressure, both the ILBers and secondary are handicapped. That will NOT be the case this year. The talent is heads and shoulders above last year which really isn't saying much. But it is enough to make the defense work. Capers is in love again.

I think that we suffered a perfect storm in terms of losing Jenkins (which I still don't understand), Neal getting injured, and Jolly being a low-rent delinquent and deciding to ruin his only shot at success. Hopefully this was a one-off deal. I feel like our window on offense is going to be open for awhile, but that doesn't mean we have time to waste - every year is a new opportunity, but we need to make the best of it. 15 and 1 means nothing if we don't advance to the big game.

Square pegs in round holes is a good way to describe this draft. TT drafted prototypical 4-3 players up front. Kampman couldn't make the transition to OLB from DE, the process for Perry will be tough. If he can do it, it may take several seasons. Worthy and Daniels are very likely Big Ten DL busts. Between 2000-2009, 25 Big Ten DL players were selected in the first 3 rounds. I would say on;y 3 are good starters; Ryan Pickett, Tambi Halli and Jon Babibneaux. The rest of the cast is littered with monumental buts like Erasmus James, Vern Gholston, Mike Haynes, Tony Adams, Wendal Bryant and Courtney Brown. The best players in this draft are the two DB's. Both could develop into productive starters. I hope this draft improves the pass rush but the odds look bleak, This appears to be TT's worst draft. I know that the cool-aid drinkers who dream on that all picks will be home-runs will react scornfully to this sober review, but even the best of GM's only make good picks about 1/3 of the time.

The game is changing and so defenses will change too. Those "round holes" have the skill sets that will be needed, first and foremost, the ability to generate inside pressure. Further, no crystal ball is needed to project that Perry has the skill sets to both protect the edge and rush the QB from the outside. Do you really think the Packer war room is as dumb as you make them?

Fishhead; You make a lot of valid points, but McCarthy put his finger on the primary problem when he mentioned the stress put on the Defense by the changes in Offensive strategy. A quick strike offense gets off of the field quickly. Defense must absorb more time in contact with the opponent and less time at rest. The only long term fix is an abundance of skilled rotational players. Thompson has acted upon this need as reflected in this year's draft and now it is the coaching staff and McCarthy who are charged with getting ready to play.

I have no doubt that this will happen. Remember 15-1 isn't too shabby if the loss isn't the last game. Go Packers!

4sight: I totally agree with your comment about Hunt's articles. His writing style is more along the lines of Readers Digest, or the Saturday Evening Post. He is NOT a Sports Writer. His stuff makes me want to politely ask someone to bring me a cup of warm milk and some fresh scones, when an article about the Packers needs to be all brats and beer (ala Silverstein) or at least steak and martinis (ala McGinn). I think that Hunt's articles would have been perfect for my grandmother - unfortunately she passed away in 1974, and didn't care much about professional sports.